“Like everyone else, I’m a big MJ Lenderman fan. And I’m a pop girlie, so I’m loving the Sabrina Carpenter album… I’m trying to get into more ambient music and just relax for once in my life,” jokes Blair Howerton, frontwoman of Why Bonnie, who released their sophomore LP, Wish on the Bone, August 30th. The album is their first for Fire Talk, and Howerton also admits to being a big fan of a lot of her current labelmates: “It’s very diverse in terms of genres and vibes, at least within the realm of indie rock… I kind of like the space that we occupy in the roaster, and I love a lot of the bands.” Last fall Why Bonnie actually made us an exclusive “fall with why bonnie” playlist, which featured PHILTHY phavorites like Mitski, Angel Olsen, Fiona Apple, and MJ Lenderman (So you know she’s not just jumping on the bandwagon…), so I was curious to hear what she’s listening to a lot of this fall.
The last time Why Bonnie was in town was last November, amidst a run opening for Americana singer/songwriter S.G. Goodman that had the band at Underground Arts. The show was the local debut of the current lineup of the group, previously a five-piece, which has them pared down to Howerton, Chance Williams, and Josh Malett, along with their buddy Izzy Oram Brown. They performed a set of mostly (if not entirely?) unreleased tracks which you can now find on Wish on the Bone.
Since then, the New York-by-way-of-Austin trio — who have famously been characterized as “shoegaze-icana” — has made quite a splash in the indie music world with Wish on the Bone. CONSEQUENCE featured a “Track by Track” of the album; Howerton shared the album’s biggest influences on a playlist for FLOOD Magazine (which includes The Weather Station, Broken Social Scene, and Big Thief); and Far Out Magazine, Under the Radar, and Pitchfork shared their love of the LP, which follows up 2022’s 90 In November.
During a recent phone chat with Blair Howerton (who’s become a personal friend of mine), on her way home from her day job, the Why Bonnie singer/songwriter admits that the whole album drop has been kind of a whirlwind: “It’s all almost like a blur to me, but the release show [at Union Pool in Brooklyn] was really fun. It was great to be there with my bandmates and pop some champagne and celebrate together!”
While the songs of Wish on the Bone are new to listeners, Blair tells me that the sentiments she explores have been lingering in her for a while: “Releasing music is always a delayed experience… Like, my personal life and my experience as a musician, that I write about, aren’t out there until like a year-and-a-half, two years after.” “For 90 In November, that was like my last chance to work through my Texan roots and hold onto that last bit of myself. This is much more of a forward-thinking album, as opposed to focusing on the past. I’m thinking about things like, ‘Where am I at and who do I want to be when I’m older?’” says Blair.
Howerton explains, “This one is more of a reflection of my present moment, which is living in New York. I’m a sponge, who just soaks up whatever’s around me.” She also admits that she’s been happily expanding her sonic palette from the band’s “shoegaze-icana” roots during her time in New York: “I feel like I really found my voice while making this album. I was taking a lot of risks, and I let my intuition guide me this time…”
Later this week Blair is taking Why Bonnie on the road for about a week’s worth of dates, which conclude Friday, September 27th at our very own MilkBoy, and she tells me that the jaunt will feature the same lineup as their last stop in town. She also tells me that everyone who’s been digging Wish on the Bone will be happy with the live show: “It’ll be a lot of songs from the new album, maybe some songs from the old album, maybe a cover…”
The first time I spoke with Howerton about Why Bonnie’s live show, prior to a headlining gig at Kung Fu Necktie, she told me, “We like to have a lot of fun onstage! We genuinely enjoy playing live!” And she says that that sentiment is certainly still in place, but that she isn’t afraid to get into the heavy stuff either: “I like to bring a very open, warm, relaxed vibe to the show… I want people to have a good time. But I don’t shy away from talking about my feelings and the things that inspired the songs…”
*Get your tickets here.
